A three months ago, I had the IMA light go on just shy of 94,000 miles. Lute Riley Honda in Richardson Texas quoted me $6,500 to replace the battery pack, BCM and MCM units. I paid $450 and a rental car at commercial rate - Honda covered the rest. Heard horror stories of 1-2 months to get the battery - mine came back in nine days.
This is a 2000 5-speed Insight. The batteries and units are better, so I think another 150,000 miles (when the car gets to 250,000) is realistic. The new software does not allow the battery charge to get so low. I
think the low point is now 40% - not 15% (someone verify please). Anyway, I had my 12-volt battery go dead 2-3 times. When it did, the hybrid battery pack also went dead (at least according to the display). This must have shortened the life.
What I'll do is never let the 12-volt battery go dead, and limit the assist boosts to 30 seconds. So far, my battery pack has not recaled.
